Dear Church Family

We get to start again. I love the beginning of a new year. It always starts with hope. I recently received this from Earl Peterman. "I didn't make it to the gym today. That makes 5 years in a row." That's what I feel like sometimes. I can make New Year's goals that I really have no intention of keeping. But there is one goal I enjoy every year. It's reading the Bible through in a year. We're beginning again January 1st. Grab a guide in the foyer of the church and begin. One of the blessings is the daily time with the Lord seeing His plan from Genesis through Revelation take place. This is our guidebook. Each day you read an Old Testament and a New Testament reading. Grab one thought each day and apply it to your life. Live that thought and you will grow strong in your Christian life-guarantee! Let's start this new year on the solid ground of God's word.

Thank You!

We have had so much going on that has blessed many in our church. I want to take a moment and say thank you to our church for many stepping up and taking responsibility in areas that needed to be taken. Thank you to all who made our Living Nativity such a great event this year. The Lord gave us great weather and you provided the fellowship by being present and supporting this outreach to our community. Many people you invited came. I have heard stories of people coming through and then going and getting others to go through with them. I welcomed two in our Sunday service that came to check out our church because they came through the Nativity. It is always a lot of work, but it reaches many with the marvelous message of the Gospel in 9 scenes- Thank you. Thank you to those who made our worship center so beautiful. And it will be changing more. We have been blessed by a donation to upgrade our worship center. Be looking for the changes in the very near future. Thank you to those of you who invite people each week to join us in worshipping God. Keep sharing your love for the Lord with those around us. Let me tell a recent story. "One lady was reading her Bible at McDonalds and someone came up to her and asked if that was a Bible. Our member said yes, and the lady wondered if she could pray about a situation in her life." It was an example of being in the right place at the right time doing the right thing and God used her to touch this lady's life. Let's keep our eyes open to opportunities to be the salt and light in our community.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Mark

Dear Church Family

Jesus came to live among us and to give his life to save us from the penalty of sin!! Yet the way he came 'wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger' seems like a strange way for the King of the Universe to make his entrance. He upholds the universe by the 'word of his power' and he needed Mary to hold him because he couldn't walk yet. At the manger we see the humble love of our sovereign King. Enjoy celebrating Christmas!

Ignition

Meet in SHBC parking lot on Thursday, December 27th at 7:45am to load up and head down to the conference. We will return in the late evening on Saturday, December 29th. Bring money for 6 fast food meals.

World Changers

If you are interested in attending this years World Changers trip please RSVP with pastor Dan ASAP so that we can start planning for the trip.

Sabbatical

I will be gone on my Sabbatical from January 13th until February 10th. I am excited to spend some time observing what some like-minded churches are doing in their ministries. I will be at Fellowship in the Pass Church in Beaumont for the first couple of weeks observing their services, meetings, ministries, and meeting with staff and leaders to gain an understanding of some of the nuts and bolts as well as how they are accomplishing the work of the ministry. They have agreed to let me sit in on meetings and sit down with the staff and ask questions. I will also be meeting with the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland to discuss transition, ministry, and leadership.

Following the time in Southern California we will be up at Jenness Park for a few days and then meeting with a few pastors in our area to talk about some ministry opportunities. I am really excited for this opportunity and thankful that I have such wonderful youth leaders who can handle everything while I am gone!

Things you can be praying for:

Safe Travels

Study time for the kids, so they can keep up with school while we are gone.

Study time for me as I work my way through my book list.

Clarity from the Lord regarding where He wants to lead SHBC.
a. Especially Feb 4-8 when I will be evaluating what I have learned at each stop, filtering it through who we are as a church, and working to nail down what the Lord wants for SHBC in all of this.
b. Since we are to ask for our needs (even though it is a little early at this point) you can start praying that God will begin leading a new associate pastor to us and lead us to him

Fruitful time learning from these other pastors and churches.

Rest and family time for the Mahaffie's.

(Just a reminder there are Bible Study attendance requirements for World Changers, Youth & Children's Camp)

Flag Football

Saturday, January 5, 2019

Rain or Shine - Food Provided

ALL ARE WELCOME!

For more info see
Mike Finnicum or Aaron Sutherland

At Sequoia for ages 13 and older. The Cost is $50.00 per person. This is for a 2 year certification. Choose morning session from 8:00 AM to noon or afternoon session from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM. This will be held on January 5th and January 12th. For more information contact Paul Acosta.

One of the top question 3 questions that are asked of me is "how do you know God's will?" It is more than a 5-minute answer because it involves our lives being committed to God. We are going to offer a study on Knowing God's will. It is a twelve-week study that will change your life. Experiencing God-Knowing and Doing the Will of God is probably the one study that has changed my life more than anything else. If I could assign every Christian to one study (Other than the study of God's word) this is the book.

We will begin this Class on Sunday, January 13th in the Conference Room. The cost is only the cost of the book which you can purchase on Amazon or LifeWay. The cost is around $20.If you would like to take the class, please contact Pastor Mark.

Group trip to the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter

Several have decided to go to Kentucky to see these two great attractions.You can look these over by visiting the Creationmuseum.org. If you have an interest in being a part of this excursion we will meet after church on Sunday January 6th to discuss our plans. The total cost for this trip for two would be around $1300 plus car rental and food. Let's meet together and make this happen. If you have any ideas that can shave some cost for this trip please bring those ideas along.